Mother’s Day roses adorn the altar during a Mother's Day Mass celebrated by Father Leo Perez at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Mother’s Day roses adorn the altar during a Mother's Day Mass celebrated by Father Leo Perez at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

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Pauline Macedo puts her hand around her grandson Roman Flinn as her son-in-law prays during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Pauline Macedo puts her hand around her grandson Roman Flinn as her son-in-law prays during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

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Maria Ramirez (left) and her daughter Sonia Ramirez hold hands during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Maria Ramirez (left) and her daughter Sonia Ramirez hold hands during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

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Father Leo Perez gives communion during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Father Leo Perez gives communion during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

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Women hold hands during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Women hold hands during a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

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Theresa Franckowiak and her daughter Cathy Franckowiak chat with Father Leo Perez following a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Theresa Franckowiak and her daughter Cathy Franckowiak chat with Father Leo Perez following a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

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Theresa Franckowiak holds her rose along with her daughter Cathy Franckowiak following a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Theresa Franckowiak holds her rose along with her daughter Cathy Franckowiak following a Mother's Day Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on Sunday morning.

Photo: Robin Jerstad /For The San Antonio Express-News

A celebration of mothers at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

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As a young boy in Acapulco, Mexico, Victor Manuel Patricio Silva received an early lesson in faith from his mother, Leonor. A member of the Legion of Mary, she would bring Silva to Mass every week because “she loved to be in the church,” he recalled.

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On Sunday, five years after he moved to the United States to become a priest and five days before his ordination, Silva felt complicated emotions at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto’s annual Mother’s Day Mass. As he stood before a crowd of several hundred, Silva recalled the profound impact of his mother, who died 20 years ago.

While his mother will not be physically there to see him become a priest on Friday, Silva, 40, said he will be grateful to her for introducing him to his passion.

“She is going to be present with me,” Silva said. “She was the one who taught me the faith. So it’s kind of, in some way, giving back to her what she taught me when I was a child. I can say that there is a mix of feelings, because I miss her.”

Father Leo Perez, who led the service in English beneath an overhang of tree branches on the Oblate Missions grounds, said that because of the Holy Eucharist, mothers can be “transformed and strengthened in the love that they’re called to give to their families.”

“Jesus had a mother also. We know her name was Mary,” Perez said. “And we pray that all our moms can use this mother of Jesus as a model of how they can love, and that we can participate with them in creating a kingdom of God.”

Deborah Alvarez, 49, began attending the Mother’s Day Mass before her daughter Stephanie Alvarez, 19, was born. She enjoys coming back because she feels closer to God each time, and is reminded of the importance of “everything that mothers do.” She said she employs a parenting style of “gentle guidance,” like her mother did for her.

“I feel like no matter what children do, all the trouble we put them through, I feel like there’s always that love that’s there,” Stephanie Alvarez said. “She gets mad at me sometimes, but at the end of the day, I’m her daughter. And so she loves me no matter what.”